Summer Reflection | By Brianna Levy

A Summer of Service | By Brianna Levy, Estero, FL

This summer I had the absolute pleasure of interning with the Charitable Foundation of the Islands, working with the wonderful nonprofit organizations in Sanibel and Captiva.

I am a junior marketing major at Florida Gulf Coast University and work during the fall and spring with FGCU Athletics. However, summers are slow in Athletics, so I searched for an opportunity to help my community recover. After witnessing the damage Hurricane Ian brought to Southwest Florida last September, I wanted to help assist in the rebuilding effort. It was even more personal to me because I grew up on Fort Myers Beach. Many of my family members and friends lost their homes or businesses – some lost everything. My family was displaced for several months, but we were lucky to be able to move back last fall.

My assignment this summer with the Charitable Foundation of the Islands included helping the nonprofit organizations adopt and launch POINT, an online volunteer management platform that helps nonprofits and volunteers connect. I saw for myself the fantastic work these non-profits are doing. I worked aside staff from the Children's Education Center of the Islands (CECI), the Sanibel Community House and Community Housing & Resources (CHR) to help them get their POINT page up and running and to hear about volunteer opportunities they wanted to post.

Early in the summer, I was able to serve alongside several volunteers from Sanibel and Lake Michigan Credit Union at F.I.S.H. of Sanibel-Captiva, an excellent social service organization that helps Island residents with social services, education and other assistant. We helped organize donations for the organization’s Friday furniture distribution day and also helped inventory their new Rotary Tool Shed. We also watched people come to the food pantry. I saw a young mom with her child, an older woman on her own, and a middle-aged construction worker stop by. Humbling to say the least.

As the summer went on, Dolly Farrell, CFI’s Executive Director, and I discussed a possible opportunity to connect Island nonprofits with FGCU students looking to fulfill their service-learning hours. Later in the summer, I attended a meeting with Dolly at FGCU for non-profits seeking to become more involved with the service-learning program. This fall, I hope to continue with CFI as a service-learning coordinator, acting as a liaison between the Island nonprofits and FGCU. I’m excited to see where this takes the students, CFI, and me. I’m so grateful for the opportunities I had this summer and those yet to come.